


Laundry and Mythomagic

by the-deathboy-ghostking (bookiewookiee)



Series: Solangelo Drabbles [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, laundry mat au, sorta college au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-01 23:19:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2791373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookiewookiee/pseuds/the-deathboy-ghostking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's time to do laundry at the dorm's laundry room, Nico enjoys doing it late at night so he wont be bothered. Will, who has put off laundry for several weeks and now needs clean cloths before Monday classes, shows up and does not understand how to do laundry. A match of Mythomagic is played and laundry gets cleaned and Nico gets feelings for another human being?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Laundry and Mythomagic

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt I found on tumblr. "hi I don't know you but I don't know how to work this washing machine can you help?" au. Just messing around and decided to share

There's a distinct smell and sound in the laundry room. The mixture of the different detergents combining but eventually it all smells like "fresh linen" and the machines make thubawub and pshhsshh sounds. Nico found it relaxing as he sat cross-legged on the washing machines across from his, looking at his lap where his hand held game comfortably lay he plays. The other students in the dorm were pretty much all asleep by 2 in the morning or frantically studying in their rooms, leaving the laundry room very empty. Just the way Nico liked it.

The quiet didn't last for very long. The sounds of someone struggling were loud from the hallway. Someone was trying to balance two baskets and a laundry bag in their arms. Nico couldn't see who it was because of the tower of laundry hid their face. He rolled his eyes and tried to go back to his game. The person banged into the tables that were in the middle for folding and sorting. The baskets toppled onto the tables and the bag fell onto the floor.

"Argh!"

Nico looked up to find a young man with disheveled blond hair tossing his head back as he gave an exasperated groan. He angrily grabbed at his clothes and stuff them back into the baskets. He hadn't even noticed there was another person in the room with him, even right across from him. When he seemed satisfied enough with collecting his clothes, he turned around to face the machines. His shoulders slumped and he gave another groan.

Nico tried not to smirk at his peer's obvious irritation, but a low _snirk_ escaped his lips. The blond spun around, face growing red when he realized he had an audience.

"Hi!" he said, trying to recover. He offered a smile in Nico's direction. Nico couldn't help the fleeting thought that the blond was quite attractive. His flailing and flushing didn't help add to that thought. "So, um I know this is weird but I was wondering if you could help me....I have no idea how these machines work."

Nico raised an eyebrow, wondering how the Hell a college student, most likely a junior like him if they were in the same dorm, managed to never use the laundry room. The other boy must have sensed the growing inquiry from Nico and rushed to an explanation. "I usually take my clothes home when I visit my mom in the city, but she's in Europe for the next couple of weeks. I desperately need clean clothes. I'm currently going commando right now. Sorry, TMI. Will you please help?"

Nico blinked for a moment, trying not to think about the commando comment. He set his game down, uncrossed his legs and stood.

"Sure, do you have quarters?"

"No? These things take money!??"

"Do you have any cash? There's a change machine in the corner."

The blond hung his head. "No."

Nico gave a quiet laugh. "It's okay, I can spot you a five, that may be enough. Do you have detergent?"

The other's face turned red again. "I'm really terrible at this."

"You can borrow mine," Nico explained, hooking his index finger under the handle of his blue bottle of detergent.

"I'm Will by the way," he stammered out as he watched Nico walk over to the change machine.

"Nico,"

"Thanks, Nico, you're really saving my ass."

"By the sounds of your undergarment choices tonight I would say so, yes."

Will blushed as Nico hefted the detergent to him. Nico scooped the quarters into his hands. He walked back to the machines, placing a dollar into the quarter slots of three machines.

"So, you're probably going to want to sort your clothes into your whites, lights and darks. Hopefully three machines will be enough for what you have there. And I am not helping you sort. I am not touching your dirty laundry."

"Please, we barely know each other," Will grinned over at Nico as he dumped his clothes onto the table.

Will tore his gaze away from Nico and began sorting through his baskets. He put the whole laundry bag of whites into one washer, then his lights and darks into the other two machines. Nico showed him how to measure out the detergent, and put it into the little compartment in the washer and picking the wash settings. They closed the doors and pushed the quarters into the machines.

"So how long does this take?"

"About 45 minutes. Longer to dry."

"Do you want to get some coffee from the lounge?"

"That's a vending machine, you don't have money. You need the rest of the quarters to dry your clothes."

Will hung his head in defeat and sighed. Nico stopped himself from climbing back on the machines. There was something about this guy that made him want to help. It may have been the seriously pathetic unpreparedness in washing his clothes, he was also cute. He was already monetarily invested in Will endeavor, what was a few more bucks?

"Okay, come on. You're obviously not going to last the night without proper caffeination." Nico said as he headed out the door.

"Really? You're seriously the best, how have we not met before?" Will asked as he followed Nico into the lounge.

"I usually stay holed up in my dorm," Nico walked up to the coffee vending machine and shoved a couple of bills into the reader. He clicked a couple of buttons as he placed a cup beneath the spigot.  He took the cup and replaced it with a new one. He moved aside and let Will pick his selections. Nico couldn't help but watch as Will bit his lower lip as he made his selections but he seemed to be stuck between a caramel shot or white chocolate. Finally deciding on caramel, Will looked over at Nico as the cup filled up, a grin spread across his face.

They headed back to the laundry room and Nico jumped back onto his previous spot. He opened his game and it made a familiar ding sound as the game resumed. 

"What game are you playing?" Will asked, curiously slinking closer to Nico, trying to peer over to look at the screen.

"Mythomagic: The Giants War."

A low snort erupted from Will's throat. Nico rolled his eyes, he was used to this reaction from people. He waited for the 'you're such a  nerd' comment or a variant. 

"Sorry. That was mean." Will quickly recovered. "I mean, it's just like the worst game in the Mythomagic series. The Titan's Battle was by far the best they've done. I prefer the cards though."

"Wait! You play?" Nico excitedly asked.

Will put his hands up defensively. "Whoa, yeah, I mean I don't do tournaments or anything," 

Nico was already digging through his bag for his deck. "I've been collecting since I was ten. So I've got first edition of the Olympians. I even found Hades which is a super rare card."

He began suffling through his cards. "Obviously I don't play with those anymore. They're practically collectibles now. But I do have a big enough deck for two to play. It'll pass the time."

"Wow, so you're like a super huge nerd." Will hopped up onto the machines, sitting across from Nico and crossed his legs.

"My sister, Bianca, says that all the time." Nico grinned as he sorted the cards into two equal decks. He quickly went over the rules to refresh Will's memory. Soon after they were drawn into a very riveting match. Nico's washers alerted that they were done, but Nico waved it off. "I'll put them in the dryer when yours goes off. I'm about to win this; I need to concentrate."

He went back to his hand as Will let out a low laugh. He stopped when Nico looked up long enough to shoot him a glare. He finally laid down his winning move: Hades and an add on of Cerebus.

"Ha. That knocks your Hp to like negative 200. No god can help you now. No extra ambrosia or nectar either."

"Dude, that was overkill I only had fifty HP left."

Before he could say anything, Will's washers went off. Nico jumped down and attended to his own laundry. Will carefully carried each of his loads to a respective dryer.

"So you probably don't want to have it too hot or else you'll shrink anything cotton. "

Will nodded as he placed the quarters into the machine and began it. "So, what's your major?"

"History." 

"Really?" Will leaned up against the machines where they were playing their game. He drank from his cold coffee that he had forgotten about. 

"Yep," Nico nodded. "with a specialization in ancient culture and civilization."

"Like Greece?" Will wiggled his eyebrows knowingly and Nico felt a pull at his stomach. 

"Yeah. What's yours?"

"Pre-med so far. It's really stressful."

Nico nodded in understanding. He hopped back up onto the machines and began shuffling the decks. He dealt again and looked at Will with a questioning glance. Will inwardly groaned and joined him.

"You're just going to beat me again."

Nico smirked as he played his first card. It was a pretty crappy card compared to the rest of his hand; it was a really low level monster. Will grinned as he slapped a card down that annilated Nico's. Not a bad first play. They continued to play the game as their laundry tumbled in a lethargic manner. More than half way through the dryers' cycle, and more than double the length of their last game, was where the game started to pick up.

They were neck and neck for their HP and Nico was quite impressed with the cards and bonuses that Will pulled on him and how little Will had discarded. He took a quick glance at his Underworld, the discarded pile, and internally scolded himself. Resting somewhere within the numerous cards was (ironically) his prized Hades card, which under the circumstances of play had been rendered unusable because Will was lucky and sensible enough to play the Persephone card. While Persephone stayed in play, Hades could not be played and Nico didn't have any "Underworld Pomegrantes" cards to throw down. 

Nico looked back at his current cards as he realized it was worthless to covet that which was gone. His brows knitted together as he tried to strategize a way to face Will's hand without destroying the rest of his Ichor, the attack points. Will's lips were pulled into a wide grin, with a knowing glint in his eye. He knew he had Nico cornered. Nico threw a Gorgon card down; it wasn't Medusa, but one of her sisters, and no where near as powerful. Will smiled and slapped his card down with a triumphant smile. His card was just a simple monster card, but in combination with several other cards in play it led him to victory.  His smile was so bright, it was like it held the power of the sun. Again, Nico felt a pull in his stomach. He had felt this before and attempted to squash it, no needing to develop another crush. He could feel his blood rise to his cheeks. A blush was certain to give him away. This was why he stayed away from people, it was just easier being lonely. But there was something about this blond boy who could play a good game of Mythomagic and had a beautiful laugh. Knowing Nico's luck though, he'd be straight too and also have a girlfriend. Yes. It was easier being lonely.

Nico stalked over to his dryer. Fifty minutes of the set seventy had passed, but Nico suddenly felt anxious. He opened the door and felt around to see if his clothes were dry. He felt a wave of relief wash over him when he found them completely dry.

"Yours is done already?" Will asked and Nico wondered if he heard a small whining in the question. He nodded in response. "I wonder if any of mine is?"

Will quickly checked his machines to find that his whites, which was mostly compiled of tshirts and socks, was dry. The other two still need time. He joined Nico at the folding table, watching him as he folded his dark tshirts. 

"Do you only wear black?"

"No, sometimes I wear dark grey." Nico explained as he held up a t-shirt and waved it defiantly.

Nico hurried folded the rest of his laundry and neatly put his clothes into back into the basket. He grabbed his messenger bag, crossing it in front of his chest.

"Leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired, it's almost four in the morning. I have class in five hours."

"Oh," Nico noticed that Will looked almost sad. Sad to see him leave? What? They had just met, it couldn't be. "Well, if you ever want a rematch on Mythomagic I live in room 707."

"Okay," Nico said as he grabbed his basket, his ears turning slightly pink. He walked out the door.

"It was nice meeting you!" Will called after him. Nico sped up the stairs before he could look back.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This match of mythomagic was conjured from my imagination and my small understanding of Magic the gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh. If theres any typos or verb issues. It's because I wrote the puppy over the course of a week on my phone and not really rereading it before I picked up again.


End file.
